$10K bail for O'Hare worker accused of stealing violin

A judge set bail at $10,000 today for a Northwest Side man who is charged with stealing a valuable violin from a woman after the theft was captured on surveillance video at O’Hare International Airport, police said.

Volodymyr Babiy appeared today before Judge Israel Desierto, who set bail at $10,000, according to Cook County state’s attorney’s office spokesman Stephen Campbell. He is scheduled to appear for a preliminary hearing on July 2 before Desierto, according to Campbell.

Babiy, 52, of the 5800 block of West School Street, was charged late Wednesday with one count of felony theft, police said.

Babiy worked for a company contracted by O’Hare but his position was not known. On Saturday, he took a Remenyi Mihaly 1873 violin valued at $100,000 O'Hare airport and brought it home, according to a police report.

The violin was first reported missing from O’Hare, then reported stolen, according to police. The 56-year-old woman who owns the violin could not be reached.